There were a couple of different routes we could take from Coeur d’Alene to Columbia Falls, Montana, but we ultimately decided that the northern route – taking US-95 out of Post Falls and picking up US-2 in Bonners Ferry – looked like the best option for us.
They were both pretty good roads, and once we were on Route 2, we were once again headed east.
Rain was predicted on Saturday, but we had periods of blue sky,
as well as some rain.
Soon after we made that turn east onto US-2, we crossed into Montana. It’s a new state for this trip, but not new to our adventure . . . we stayed in Montana last year to visit Yellowstone and the Bighorn Canyon.
We were following the Kootenai River,
on some pretty nice roads.
Oops – I spoke too soon . . . we came to some construction . . .
and then this . . . not something you want to see when you’re pulling a big rig!
It didn’t last too long, though, and wasn’t too bad!
Before long, we arrived at the Columbia Falls RV Park, where we checked in and got set up on site 63, a super deluxe pull thru full hookup site. It’s a little expensive, even at the weekly rate, but it’s a very nice RV Park . . . and we have cable, which makes Bryce happy!
We’re right up front with all the other big rigs!
Settled in, we had some dinner and then went to 6:30pm mass, so we could sleep in on Sunday.
After a leisurely breakfast, we took a drive to West Glacier and the Apgar Visitor Center. Our primary goal was to pick up maps, check the status of the Going-to-the-Sun Road and several trails, and generally come up with a plan for the week.
since it wasn’t raining at the moment, Tom wanted to go ahead and get in a little hiking. We decided on the Rocky Point Trail that overlooks Lake McDonald and meets up with the Lake McDonald West Shore Trail.
We walked through the tall pines, crossed over McDonald Creek,
and saw several beautiful wildflowers.
We continued along the trail until we reached Rocky Point Overlook.
We had a great view of the lake from there!
We sat and enjoyed the view for several minutes,
and watched as a few storm clouds gathered. We thought we might have time to walk along the West Shore Trail for a while, but as soon as we started out we heard a couple loud cracks of thunder and immediately turned back!
We had black clouds to our left and right the whole way back to the car, and blue sky directly above us, but the closer we got, the less blue sky we saw! We had just reached the trailhead parking lot when the rain started falling! We got a little wet, but not drenched!
Back at the RV Park, after dinner, the stormy skies resulted in an amazing sunset reflected on the mountains!
Not a bad start to the week!
That looks like a beautiful area to explore. I hope the rain quits
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures! We're headed to Montana next week (our first time) and seeing this beautiful scenery is getting me excited.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to my home state! Isn't it lovely and beautiful? My husband has been searching through MT and has fallen in love with it, since he is from NE and we have only visited family for short periods of time and did not get to see much. He has looked at the campground you stayed in and a few others as well. He is so ready! But we have 3.5 years left until retirement for the 2nd time.
ReplyDeletetravelinmama